


In the 5am Light

by ChiaRoseKuro



Series: A World of One's Own [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Drabble, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 05:32:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14073972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiaRoseKuro/pseuds/ChiaRoseKuro
Summary: His hand stills in Naruto’s hair and his gaze disconnects, eyes unseeing through the blurry window pane. Somewhere to his back is the old Uchiha compound, decrepit and crumbling with neglect where once his cousins and aunts and uncles populated their streets. Somewhere by his left is the grove Itachi finally fell, pressing bloody fingers to his forehead and a sweat-stained brow to his shoulder.And somewhere to the front is the remnant of his arm, given up for a dream that never came about. Would it come back and strangle him now, seeing how he wasted his one remaining hand? Would it carve out his eyes, forever stuck in lurid shades of red and lilac?(or the bedtime story involving very little sleep, passing mentions of tea and comfort stolen in the dark)





	In the 5am Light

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, drabbles are meant to be anywhere between two hundred and a thousand words (or so Ramabear tells me) so let's stick with that. Goodness knows I need to limit my wordiness _somehow_ , so here we are.
> 
> You'll notice that this is part of a series titled 'A World of One's Own'; yes, it's a play on Virginia Woolf's _A Room of One's Own_ and yes, it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Unless we count my desire to experiment with writing, this will continue to have nothing to do with Woolf's work. What this contains instead is introspective Sasuke stuff, a sprinkling of Naruto and a sideways step from Chapter 699, so if that's not to your liking then feel free to click the 'back' button. Oh, and if you're looking for a deeply thought out and heavily edited fic? This isn't it. I'm just writing this to rid myself of lethargy and indulge in good music feels.
> 
> Special thanks to Oh Wonder's _Technicolour Beat_ for inspiring me in the hour it took to write this up, the prompt 'I don't think I could live alone again' for providing the theme and making absolutely no appearance in this fic, and my brother for providing me with the music platform I used to find the song inspo. Without his intervention, I'd probably never be listening to mainstream (?) English music in the first place.

* * *

 

The village never sleeps—a trite expression if there’s ever one, but one that fits nonetheless. Sitting beside his window with vapour trailing lazily past his nose and fogging up the panes, Sasuke can count no less than five active chakra signals darting hither and thither. _The night shift,_ his mind supplies as he takes a fortifying sip. It curls around his tongue in bitter drops but slides down easily enough.

Not like the way his hand cards through spiky-soft hair on his lap, sweet with a tinge of confusion. Nothing like the way Naruto snuffles and snuggles deeper into his thigh, nose pressed firmly against the very edge of his navel.

It should feel strange, being so intimate without that carnal edge. Sasuke remembers lidded glances and lascivious smiles back in Sound, the way Karin would fawn and flutter like every other kunoichi had, once. It should unsettle him, this lack of expectation or desire other than _stay_ , but…

His hand stills in Naruto’s hair and his gaze disconnects, eyes unseeing through the blurry window pane. Somewhere to his back is the old Uchiha compound, decrepit and crumbling with neglect where once his cousins and aunts and uncles populated their streets. Somewhere by his left is the grove Itachi finally fell, pressing bloody fingers to his forehead and a sweat-stained brow to his shoulder.

And somewhere to the front is the remnant of his arm, given up for a dream that never came about. Would it come back and strangle him now, seeing how he wasted his one remaining hand? Would it carve out his eyes, forever stuck in lurid shades of red and lilac?

A rustle is the only warning Sasuke gets before there’s hair pressing into his nose and a corded arm around his neck. Once, he would’ve thrown it off and snarled, Sharingan spinning lazily in counterpoint with his raised hackles, but all he does now is sigh and place his cup beside the window sill. For that, he gets a mumble and a clumsy pat to his cheek, but it’s nothing he can’t stand. Naruto is hardly a morning person and it shows in his swollen face, jaw-cracking yawn and bleary eyes.

But miracles upon miracles, he still manages an intelligible, “Don’t you ever sleep?”

Sasuke snorts, because what else is he meant to say? Naruto’s either on his sofa or the spare futon on the floor but it’s not the same as having dirt beneath his head and a warm back pressed to his side. Taka was never close and nobody sane would approve him for a mission, nowadays, but he’s woken to enough nights of a half-aborted shout or tears staining his cheeks to bear a passing resemblance to Gaara. With his fourth cup of tea in hand and Naruto’s rapidly-sobering gaze on his face…

“I thought not,” Naruto says, and gets to his feet with a series of cracking joints and soft grumbles.

“Go to bed, you stubborn bastard,” he grumbles next, and Sasuke’s suddenly got a hand in his face.

Sasuke’s not delusional—there’s no less than five active chakra signals darting hither and thither, but two have been stationed on the opposite roof since the early dregs of the night. Naruto has a flat on the other side of the village gathering dust because of the Last Loyal Uchiha, Sakura has a ward that rarely gets used because of the Last Loyal Uchiha, and it makes him want to laugh.

He killed their elder and they _still_ think him one of their own.

He defected, almost razed the village to the ground, and _still_ they welcomed him back into their fold.

Terms and conditions apply, of course, but there is only one Uchiha left when there should be _none_. Nails dig into his palm and Naruto stares on, oblivious and with his hand hovering in his face still. Would any other criminal have the future Hokage at their beck and call, he wonders?

A deep breath and another, and Sasuke slides his palm into Naruto’s.

There’s the faintest vestiges of light peeking in when Sasuke steps into his bedroom, one hand loosely clasped in Naruto’s and another digging into warm-hot ceramic. He sets the cup down on the dressing table without much thought but his hand stays careful and loose when he gets tugged into bed. Even when his head pillows against Naruto’s chest and an arm drapes itself across his back, he keeps his breaths even and his posture passive.

More chakra signals begin moving but those two… they stay put. If Naruto feels them then he’s doing a good job of pretending not to care, not with his limbs practically keeping Sasuke in place and his breath caught on a distracted hum.

“Sleep,” Sasuke hears beats later, the word ghosting across his ear and raising hairs in its wake.

 _It’s almost dawn,_ he wants to reply, but his eyelids flutter and slide shut without his permission.

Perhaps, tomorrow, there will be no deviation to their rhythm and Naruto will sleep until the dawn, unaware of the moment Sasuke comes and leaves. Perhaps there will be more passive chakra signals parked in the surrounding rooftops, blank masks pointed at windows that never close.

But here and now, with a hand coming up to card through his hair, Sasuke breathes out slowly and listens to the steady _thump-thump_ of the heart beneath his ear.

(and if his hand curls into Naruto’s a little more than it should, then he can blame it on his bone-weary exhaustion)

**Author's Note:**

> For further author notes and other things related to this fic or series, feel free to check out my [blog](https://chiarosekuro.wordpress.com/). I've got other writing stuff on there as well, if that piques your interest, but you're best checking out 'In the 5am Light' or 'A World of One's Own' if you want this fic/series specifically.


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